Carton



June 13, 1939.

w. REAUME 2,162,119

I I N VENT OR.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented June 13, 1939 PATENT OFFICE CARTON Lawrence W. Reaume, Monroe, Mich, assignor to River Raisin Paper Company, Monroe, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application October 22, 1936, Serial No. 106,959

Claims.

The invention relates to cartons or cases and particularly those of the type used for transporting beverage bottles. 1

Cartons of the above type when loaded are rela- 5 tively heavy and of rather awkward size to carry. Accordingly, it is preferred to provide a hand hole in one or both of the end pieces of the carton in order that the handler can hold one carton in each hand. This practice has been used for many years but it has been found that when the cartons are made of cardboard or the like that the carton as a whole and the end pieces thereof in particular are'of insuiiicient strength to sustain the entire carton when filled. Accordingly, in

many of the cardboard beverage cartons now in use, no, hand holes are provided and in those in which hand holes are provided, it has been found that the cartons rapidly deteriorate due to their lack of strength.

Accordingly, it is the general object of the present invention to provide an improved end construction for a cardboard carton of the type mentioned which will not materially increase the cost of the carton but will nevertheless impart suiii- 5 cient strength and rigidity to the end members to enable the end members to sustain the entire weight of a loaded carton without distortion or deterioration.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved end piece wherein the portion thereof above the hand hole is reinforced in a novel manner.

Further objects include the provision of an end piece of the character described which is formed 35 of a single sheet of material and which is secured to theiremaining portions of the carton in such a manner that the lifting forces are transmitted directly to the two such portions.

In the drawing, wherein like numerals are ap- 40 plied to like parts in the several views, 1

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the carton in a partially opened condition;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary section of one end of the carton taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

45 Fig. 3 is a view of the blank from which the main body of the carton is formed, and

Fig. 4 is a view of a blank from which the proved end piece is formed, 1

As best shown in Figures 1 and 3, the main body 50 of the carton is formed of a singlesubstantially rectangular blank I. which is divided frornfl end to r end by a plurality, of parallel crease lines into a top flap |2,'a half top member l3, a side member H, a bottom member IS, a second side member It, a second half top member I], and a second (or. 229-s2) top flap l8. Suitable finger holes l9 and are preferably provided in the half top members I3 and I1. Side member H is provided at its ends with a pair of tabs 2|. The bottom member I5 is provided with similar tabs 22 and the second side 5 member I6 is provided with corresponding tabs 23, which tabs are utilized to secure the main body portion of the carton to a pair of end members indicated generally at 25. The connection between the tabs 2|, 22, and 23and the end memo bers 25 may be made in any desired manner but is preferably effected by means of suitable staples 26, as best shown in Fig. 1. After the box is assembled, the usual partition members 21 are inserted therein for dividing the box into a 15 plurality of bottle-receiving compartments.

The improved end members 25 are each formed,

as best shown in Figure 4, of a single sheet of cardboard or the like comprising equally sized outer and inner sections 28 and 29, respectively, which are separated by parallel crease lines 38. The blank is folded double along the crease lines 30 to provide an end member of double thickness, as best shown in Figure 2. The outer section 28 is provided with a suitable hand hole 3| and the inner section is provided with an opening 32, the

upper edge of which extends flush with the upper edge of the hand hole 3| when the blank is folded in the manner shown in Fig. 2. Opening 32 in the inner section, however, is of greater depth and of Dsubstantially greater width than the opening 3|.

Preferably the opening 32 extends beyond the ends of Opening 3| by an amount equal to subsantially half of the distance between the end of opening 3| and the side edge of the end member .25 for a purpose to be described. When the end member is assembled, the piece 33, which is removed-from opening 32 in the inner section, is positioned between the inner and outer sections 29 and 28 immediately'abovethe upper edge of 40 the hand'hole 3|, substantially filling the space between the inner and outer sections and above the hand hole and extending substantially beyond the ends of the hand hole. Preferably, piece 33 is notsebarated-from the section 29 but is merely l bent along the line 34, as indicated ln-Figures 2 and 4, toprovide a stronger edge formation for the upper edge of the hand hole, but it is apparent that piece 33 may be entirely cut away from section 29 if desired, After the piece 33 is posio tioned between the inner and outer sections of the end member; it is secured in position in any desired manner, such as by staples 35, as indicated in Fig.1. a

It will be noted that the end member 25 is secured to the inner sides of the tabs 2|, 22 and 23 of the main body of the carton, with the result that it is particularly adapted to transmit endwise lifting forces to the body of the carton. Moreover, the end member itself is so formed as to provide unusual strength to resist endwise lifting forces. Not only is the end member doubled to generally increase its stiffness, but the upper edge thereof, which is subject to the greatest stress, is folded double once at the crease line 30 and again immediately above thehand hole at the point 34, thus providing a triple thickness of material above the hand hole, which area of triple thickness extends substantially beyond the ends of the hand hole, in order to transmit the lifting forces to those portions of the end member beyond the ends of the hand hole.

The box is closed by folding the half top members into closing position and inserting the top flaps l2 and I8 into the box between the end pieces Preferably, the length of the flaps I2 and I8 is such that they fit snugly between the end pieces 25 with suflicient friction to retain the half top members against unintentional openmg.

It is apparent in view of the above that there is provided in accordance with the present invention an improved cardboard carton particularly adapted to sustain the endwise forces incurred when the carton is lifted by a hand hole in an end member and that the structure provided-is relatively simple and inexpensive.

While only one form of the" invention has been disclosed, it is apparent that others are available within the spirit of the invention as set forth in the drawing and description and within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An end construction for a carton having a bottom and side walls, comprising a pair of cardboard end pieces positioned face-to-face in contact with each other and secured at three sides to the bottom and sides of the carton, one of said end pieces having a hand hole spaced from the top edge thereof, the other end piece havingan opening in alignment with said hand hole and a reinforcing strip secured to the end pieces above the top edge of the hand hole and opening and gxiiending laterally beyond the ends of the hand 2. An end construction for a carton having a bottom and side walls, comprising a pair of cardboard end pieces positioned face-to-face in contact with each other and secured at three sides to the bottom and sides of the carton, one of said end pieces having a hand hole spaced from the top edge thereof, the other end piece having an opening in alignment with said hand hole and a reinforcing strip secured to and between the end pieces above the top edge of the hand hole and opening and extending laterally beyond the ends of the hand hole.

3. An end construction for a carton having a bottom and side walls, comprising a pair of cardboard end pieces positioned face to face in contact with each other and secured at three sides to the bottom and sides of the carton, said end pieces having aligned openings therein providing a hand hole, the opening in the inner piece being of substantially greater length laterally of the end piece than the aligned opening in the outer piece and the material cut from the opening in the inner piece being bent about the upper edge of the opening into position between the end pieces and above the hand hole.

4. An end construction for a carton having a bottom and side walls, comprising a single sheet of material folded double along the upper edge of the end piece and secured at three sides to the bottom and sides of the carton, the outer layer of said end piece having a hand hole therein and the inner layer having an aligned opening of greater width laterally of the end piece than said hand hole, with the material out from the opening in the inner layer being folded about the 'upper edge of said opening into the space between the inner and outer layers of the end piece above the hand hole.

5. An end construction for a carton having a bottom and side Walls comprising a single sheet of material folded double along the upper edge of the end piece to form inner and outer end layers substantially coextensive in area with each other and secured at three sides to the bottom and sides of the carton, the outer layer of said end piece having a hand hole therein and the inner layer having an opening in alignment with said hand hole, and a reinforcing member secured to and between the layers above the top edge of the hand hole and opening, and extending laterally beyond the ends of the hand hole.

LAWRENCE W. REAUME. 

